I saw this strange black circle rolling and bouncing across the prairie. It jumped the fence in front of my car and over the other fence to southern place unknown.

It was a shock I tell you. Took me a minute to realize it was a runaway trampoline. I'm glad I wasn't broadsided by it.

Instead of rolling on the edge like a wheel, rather tumbling. But I don't really want to be near another runaway trampoline in a 40 mph north wind.

Some people, who can afford it, dig a big hole, drop the trampoline in, anchor it, and pad around ground level edges. Seems safer on SO many levels. Unlikely to take flight and kids don't have any place to fall, being at ground level for their play

Gettin gritty out there.

Edited add: I fear for people on I-10 when these hit. Only two lanes each direction and way too many big rig trucks since the railroad stopped running. Dangerous on a good day and today isn't that.

Otherwise, we're gonna worry.

Electric power still on even. We have a co-op power company here, they keep things maintained well and most transmission lines, local neighborhoods and long range lines, are underground here.

Not hearing any sirens, so the nearby highways must be deserted. Interstate 10 is way north of us, so hoping everybody on the road is safe, but there are usually problems there when this happens.

Wouldn't be surprised in Silver City, NM gets blown over the AZ state line.

Oooo, just heard thunder. Maybe it'll rain and we get flying mud. Have seen that happen. Messy business.

No worries.

I'm slow

That makes me REALLY slow

a few pix in Ptah's thread - https://www.democraticunderground.com/103814053
LOL we are almost exactly at 317

How can you ever get the dust and dirt out of everything!

and walls, windows are better than back in those days.

When I lived in eastern Montana, I got to listen to several old timers talking about the dust bowl days. They were kids and some of them had younger siblings who died from 'dust pneumonia'. Being a daughter of the Show Me State, I checked out headstones in the local cemetery. Yep. several youngsters died within a short period of time. So tragic. But farming practices changed, with the help of scientists, and the The Soil Conservation Service (SCS) was established in 1935.

The SCS morphed into the NRCS (Natural Resources Conservation Services) to administer expertise and financial assistance programs to help food producers improve their operations to be better for the whole environment, wildlife and the family farmers/ranchers. The wind doesn't carry so much of the topsoil off now with the better practices. Of course, conditions are getting bad and the improved methods won't save everything soon.


Great programs, great people. And yes, many of them cut/fired by Trump, at a time the expertise and help is going to be more important than ever.

Drought is not fun